


Even If I Don't Remember, You'll Be With Me Still

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Pridecember 2019 [8]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Art, Artists, M/M, Meet-Weird, Museums, Pridecember, Reincarnation, Vampire Bites, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21741196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Seto can't understand what it is that draws him to the painting, it fees familiar in a way that he knows isn't possibleOr is it?
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto
Series: Pridecember 2019 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560421
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	Even If I Don't Remember, You'll Be With Me Still

**Author's Note:**

> Day eight of Pridecember- "Renaissance", hopefully this fits the theme enough xD

Seto had always liked the renaissance

He didn't really know why

There was nothing about it that he found especially beautifull or intriguing, he just.... liked it, for some unidentifiable reason

And maybe that was the root of it right there

He felt a sort of identity with it that he couldn't describe, a kinship that he didn't know how to place

He felt almost like he belonged there, perhaps, or like maybe once upon a time that he had been there...

He knew it was crazy

He knew it was baseless

He didn't believe in nonsense like reincarnation and there was absolutely no real reason why a 23-year-old Japanese CEO would feel a connection to sixteenth century Europe

And yet here he stood, looking up at the painting in front of him with a shiver going up his spine

He didn't know why this one painting felt so.... so _important_ to him

He didn't understand why he felt so drawn to it

It was beautifull but.. most of the paintings in the art museum he had invested in were

It wasn't especially unique or particularly perfect, it wasn't exciting and the model used for it didn't provide any particular attraction, and _yet_....

He exhaled slowly, hands in his pockets as he stared up at it, wondering distantly if he should bother trying to buy it

He was the major investor in this museum after all, so it wouldn't exactly be impossible for him to do that, especially with the prices he could afford, but Seto was known for _investing_ in art, not _buying_ it, people would think it strange if he bought some random painting from the newly opened "Unknown Artists" exhibit, wouldn't they?

Just as he was starting to seriously roll the ideas around in his head though, he could swear that he heard something from behind him and hurried to turn and look over his shoulder

He didn't see anyone, and the museum was closed other than for himself- typical, Seto preferred to enjoy art alone- so no one should be there....

Eyes narrowed, he turned his attention back to the painting, only to startle at the sight of someone else standing in front of him

He was..... _beautifull_

Copper skinned and smirking, with angular features and spikey tri-toned hair, dressed in leather pants and a loose flowing tank top, decked out in jewlry mixed between punk-gothic and something more... Egyptian in feeling

And he was smirking at Seto as if he knew some sort of secret that the CEO was unaware of

Seto swallowed, biting the tip of his tongue before speaking

"You know, you sure are a lousy theif,"

"Oh, I'm not a theif," the stranger grinned, his teeth looking strangely... almost _sharp_ , the toothiness of his grin adding a chilling predatory quality to his already dominant presence

"Then how and why are you in here after hours?"

"I came to enjoy the art,"

"Ah, so you just snuck in so you wouldn't have to pay an admission fee,"

"No, I'm here because the art I most like to enjoy isn't available during business hours," he purred back

Seto's eyes narrowed, confusion ticking through his mind

There weren't any closed exhibits currently, so what could he mean by that...?

"You still can't be here after hours," Seto noted gruffly

He really should call security but for some reason he just... didn't

He knew consciously, logically, that he _should_ , and yet he made no move for his phone

The not-theif chuckled, taking a step closer and turning on his heel so that they were both facing the painting now, the stranger's bright red eyes gleamed in the moonlight, and Seto wondered absently if he had contacts in

Red was an unnatural color after all so he had to, right...?

Yet....

"It's beautifull, isn't it?" he asked softly, wistfully, as if truly admiring the painting

Maybe he really was an art fan who just couldn't afford the admittedly cheap admission fee...

But that still wouldn't explain his weird comment from before about the art he liked to see not being available during business hours

Maybe Seto should just disregard that though

"It is, the artist has very nice strokes,"

"Oh I'm far more interested in the model than the artist," the stranger noted with a small smirk

Seto was quiet, taking in the fine details of the painting and finding that, wile the model was beautifull, it was the artist's work he found to be most enthralling by far

The model herself looked like a relatively average woman from that area and time, clearly wealthy, but nothing really special

"It's a shame the artist was anonymous," Seto mused absently, though he wasn't quite sure why he was talking to the stranger instead of having him arrested for trespassing

"It is, but I take it that he didn't really want to make a name for himself, if I had to guess, he wanted a career of longevity, and that's something having a popularized name would never have granted him,"

"Interesting observation," Seto snorted sarcastically

He didn't know where thoughts like that came from but he himself certainly couldn't agree with them

"I don't know of any other works quite like this, his career must not have flourished like he wanted,"

"No, it didn't," the stranger replied quietly, a tone of sadness cutting beneath his words

"It was cut very short, but it's going to begin again very soon now,"

Seto narrowed his eyes, staring at the stranger in utter confusion

"What..?"

"You see the artist was in love with his model, Ophelia, he loved her _so much_ , but she was taken away from him one night.... brutally murdered..... he swore revenge on those who took his love from him and he got his revenge before sunrise the next morning, but he greived so much, he greived so hard, that he couldn't handle living any longer, yet death would not be so easy, for the artist was a creature of the night- a _vampire_ , he could have walked into the sun or staked himself or even poisoned himself with vervain but... he was afraid, he was afraid that he wouldn't be reunited with his love in the afterlife, and he wasn't done with being an artist yet either... so rather than kill himself, he went into stasis, entrusted a beloved witch freind to seal him away until Ophelia's soul returned to Earth, and over the past few centuries, that's happened a couple of times, each time the artist has emerged just long enough to be with her, but no matter what he does or how hard he tries, she always dies before he can make her his for eternity, before he can give her that bite that will seal her soul to his forever, allowing them both to walk eternally alongside eachother... he vowed when his freind found her soul this time around that he wouldn't let that happen again, no more courtship, no more waiting, he would take her before she could be taken from him,"

Seto swallowed tightly, feeling a cold sweat having broken over his skin

He didn't know why the stranger's story was affecting him like this, but he didn't like it one bit

"I.... did you just make that up on the spot?" Seto asked quietly, his voice uncharacteristically raw and rough

"No.... I learned it a long time ago," the stranger replied with a warm smile, though he had yet to look at Seto still, his eyes glued to the painting with every word

"It's interesting, don't you think? Never changing even when your lover does,"

"..I-.. what do you mean...?"

"I _mean_ that the artist has known Ophelia six times in his long life, the first her name was Ophelia, the second it was Morgana, the third time his name was Aleksander, the fourth her name was Li Min, the fifth it was Santiago, and the sixth.... it was Seto,"

Seto felt his blood run cold as the red-eyed stranger turned to look at him

"But the artist always retained his name," he continued, taking a step closer

Seto should probably step back, this was when he should call security, right?

And yet... he couldn't move, he felt rooted in place, he didn't _want_ to move, wich was a horrifying notion all on it's own

" _Atem_ ," the stranger purred, taking another step

"Europeans always thought it was so exotic, that the dark-skinned mysterious man with the odd name came from overseas, that's what they thought anyway, it was always more than a little fetishizing, but back then I was always just glad that they weren't trying to kill me, I'd rather they think I was an 'Arabian Prince' than a vampire, after all,"

Those _teeth_... they had started to grow... elongating into fangs, and his eyes... his pupils narrowed, like a reptile's, slender slits instead of the dark marble like pupils of a human's

He should be terrified

He should run

And yet he found himself strangely drawn _closer_ to this man, not driven away

"I won't let you get away again, Ophelia," the man- the _vampire_ \- said with determination as he reached out and pulled Seto in close by the elbow

"I won't let anyone ever take you away from me again,"

His heart was pounding and Seto was stunned silent

But it wasn't out of fear

It was out of anticipation and excitement and most thrilling of all- _understanding_

He had spent his entire life puzzling over why he felt so connected to an era that he had nothing to do with and now, _finally_ , he seemed to have the answer

Swallowing tightly, he allowed himself to tilt his head back as the vampire allowed Seto to fall half-way, dipping him, like they were ballroom dancing, before hovering closer, his breath warm against Seto's neck

The CEO exhaled, and as he felt the intense stinging pain of Atem's fangs sinking into his neck, his eyes found the bottom corner of the painting behind him, and he felt a smirk fall over his face

There was a signature there after all....

Not a name, but a symbol

A gothic Celtic cross was printed neatly in the very corner of the painting

A symbol of the vampire


End file.
